2015 UCI World Cup 3 Leogang

One week after the classic Fort William venue, downhill competitors return to Leogang, Austria, this weekend for Round Three of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup presented by Shimano.

Organisers at Leogang have made substantial changes to the track, adding more natural features through the woods for the 3.1 kilometre run.  Both technical sections and some high speed sections have been added and the new final jump is even longer than before.  Riders have voiced their approval for the changes.

At Fort William, the leader's jerseys changed hands for both the men and women, making it clear that no one rider is dominating the series.

In the women’s competition, Rachel Atherton (GT Factory) took the lead with her win in Scotland, however, Atherton has never won at Leogang.  World Champion Manon Carpenter (Madison Saracen) is the defending women's winner at Leogang, and is certainly looking for her first victory of the season.  Emmeline Ragot (MS Mondraker), the winner of Round One, will also be looking to regain the UCI World Cup lead, and is only 15 points behind Atherton.

For the men, Aaron Gwin (Specialized) took the UCI World Cup lead in Fort William, but crashed at Leogang last year. South Africa's Greg Minnaar took his 17th World Cup win at fort William, tying him for the all-time record with team mate Steve Peat, so he will be hoping to set a new record here.  Others to watch for include Loic Bruni (Lapierre Gravity Republic) and possibly Stevie Smith (Devinci Global Racing), back from injury and the winner of the UCI World Cup in 2013 on this track.

The action begins Saturday with qualifying, followed by the Final on Sunday.  Watch the final live on www.rebull.tv

Fresh from Scotland and his World Cup win, Greg Minnaar joins course commentator Claudio Caluori down the Leogang track. With some brand new sections for this year, it's a blind run for Minnaar - who had not yet ridden the updated sections before.

The Austrian round, held in Leogang Bike Park, is a divisive one for riders. Some of them love the track and the flat out speed and the tight race times it produces, whereas others are not too fond of the groomed trails.

However, this year there's brand new sections to add some variety to the course - check back tomorrow to see how the riders get on with the new course during practice.

You may think Minnaar is riding slightly tentatively to begin with, but we should mention that he didn't want to walk the course in advance (unlike Claudio) so as not to get an advantage over the other riders - so he's riding this blind.

Look out for some extra information along with Claudio's standard commentary as we show you his speed, heart rate, G-force, and more stats thanks to the team at LITPro.

Don't forget that you can watch all the action LIVE from Leogang UCI World Cup on Sunday, June 14 right here. Or keep up to date with the action on the RedBull.com/bike Facebook page.

Following the biblical rainstorm that hit Leogang on Thursday afternoon, the World Cup track was in surprisingly good condition come Friday morning's practice session.

Under a blazing hot sun the world's finest went to work on the newly modified track – a track that was to throw up a few surprises. Our resident World Cup filmmakers were joined by photographer Bartek Woliński to bring you all the action.

Junior Men Qualifying Results Leogang

1. Andrew Crimmins 3:48.653
2. Laurie Greenland 3:49.943
3. Jacob Dickson 3:50.514

Elite Women Qualifying Results Leogang

1. Rachel Atherton 4:06.25
2. Emmeline Ragot 4:12.12
3. Tahnee Seagrave 4:14.68

Elite Men Qualifying Results Leogang

1. Aaron Gwin 3:35.358
2. Connor Fearon 3:36.790
3. Remi Thirion 3:38.259

"Sunday, June 14 2015, Leogang, Austria. This was the scene of the greatest World Cup Downhill race victory of all-time. We've had big winning margins and wild riding but never have we seen a rider snap a chain at the start of their run only to go on and take the victory.

Leogang produced one of the most breathtaking, nail-biting and spectacular races of the season. Scroll down for all the full results and race action.

Not watched the race yet? Catch up here. Spoilers below.

With Aussie pinner Connor Fearon putting in the run of his life, many in the grandstand thought the day's drama was done. Little did we know we were about to witness history in the making from Aaron Gwin.

French flyer Loic Bruni set the early pace, and as more riders crossed the line his time, which initially didn't look fast enough to secure victory, began to hold more and more promise. It wasn't to be Bruni's day however. As the last ten took to the track, times began to tumble.

Pre-race talk was of Bruni's countryman Remi Thirion hitting some crazy lines for a second World Cup win and he did not disappoint. However, Australia's Fearon, who'd previously never finished higher than ninth in his relatively short career, put in a storming run to take the lead and the hot seat. This left one man, Aaron Gwin, with it all to do. Just how much that would turn out to be will go down in downhill mountain biking history.

Behind incredible victor Gwin, Fearon and Thirion, another Aussie, Troy Brosnan, put in a sterling run to finish in fourth place, burying unhappy memories of racing in Leogang, where he ruptured his spleen in 2012.

Canada's Stevie Smith, who had his fair share of injuries in 2014, was looking to get back on the podium here but slid out of contention near the top of the track, leaving the familiar faces of Greg Minnaar, Gee Atherton, Josh Bryceland, Loic Bruni, Brook Macdonald and Marcelo Gutiérrez to round out the top ten.

It was another spell of bad luck for defedning World Cup champion Manon Carpenter, with a similarly unlucky repeat of last weekend's bad luck. Carpenter was set to take the hot seat but less than a second from the finish-line, on the final jump of the track, she misjudged her landing and ended up riding off course – resulting in a disqualified run.

Swiss rider, Emilie Siegenthaler held onto the hot-seat and managed to hold off advances from Tracey Hannah and Jill Kintner. Her reign ended when young British rider Tahnee Seagrave sped into the finish with an impressive seven-second lead.

There were only two ladies left at the top of the hill who could steal from her the chance of her very first World Cup win. Emmeline Ragot looked confident and fast on the course but couldn't keep up with the Brit, who managed to maintain her hotseat. There was only one woman left at the top of the hill, another British rider and last weekend's winner; Rachel Atherton. 

Atherton put in a faultless run, making spectators and commentators gasp at her brave line choices. Speeding into the finish she took her first ever win at Leogang with a three-second margin. It's safe to say she was pretty pleased with it.

Sh*t!! Nearly went down hard up top but held her upright & took the win!! BUZZZATRON!! Another 1-2-3 for me, Tahnee Seagrave & Ragot!

– Rachael Atherton"

"The action began with a spectacular aerial show above Bikepark Leogang by Red Bull Air Race pilot Hannes Arch. As the racers began to come down, the clouds started to roll in and the wind got stronger. These tough conditions suited today’s Women Elite winner, Rachel Atherton (GBR). “I’ve been trying to win here a long time and I think today is the day when it started to rain so… I am really happy and really tired” – said Rachel Atherton. The women’s race was close, with Tahnee Seagrave (GBR) firmly in the hot seat after a pelting run. French rider, Emmeline Ragot looked strong and finished in third. Unfortunately, last year’s winner, Manon Carpenter was disqualified for crossing the tape and missing a gate. She will hope to score more points at round 4 in three weeks.
 
After the Women Elite, the men took to the Speedster track in Bikepark Leogang. Little did the ten thousand live spectators who lined the tapes and finish area realize what they were about to witness the most determined run in downhill history. Loic Bruni held the hot seat for a long time, then the top 10 riders came flying down and one-by-one, the pack was ruffled. But the man of the hour was Aaron Gwin who stormed out the gate, losing his rear derailer. On course without a chain, the American athlete opened the brakes and charged down the track to victory. “Last weekend was an awesome result and a pretty tough weekend. Leogang has been a lot better, I felt really good the whole weekend. The track is pretty good, you don’t need to pedal much so I just tried to tuck in and charge” – commented Aaron Gwin. This is the second time the World Cup leader has pulled a rabbit out of a hat after his bare rim run, right here in Leogang just last year. Aaron’s run today in Saalfelden Leogang will stay in the history books for many years to come.
 
The 21-year old Australian rider, Connor Fearon scored his best ever World Cup result finishing in second place. His run was riddled with high and low lines which formed a fast ride down the new Speedster track. Remi Thirion (FRA) came across the line incredibly fast and took the hot seat but eventually, his day in Leogang finished in third position. A great result for the Frenchman. Troy Brosnan (AUS), Greg Minnaar (RSA) and Gee Atherton (GBR) took the following three positions and will look to improve at the next stop in Lenzerheide, Switzerland on July 5th."

2015 UCI WC 3 Leogang Finals Junior Men Results

2015 UCI WC 3 Leogang Finals Women Results

2015 UCI WC 3 Leogang Finals Men Results